Barn fire could have been deadly: He’s lucky he got out...lucky to be alive...
by Trinity Gruenberg
May 19 started out as a typical day for Donna Larson and Loren Coyer at their rural Eagle Bend farm. Coyer was on a mission to burn a clearing for a food plot for the wildlife that would venture in from the marsh.
He began clearing the area near the barn. The fire quickly grew out of control and headed for the marsh. Coyer jumped on a tractor with Larson who had a garden hose. They tried to prevent the fire from spreading to the marsh.
“We were so worried about the marsh catching on fire. We were trying to get the rest of it out and it was moving really fast. The next thing you know, I heard this horrible noise over the tractor running and I’m like what on earth?” recalled Larson.
She looked over her shoulder and saw their barn was on fire. She suspected embers from the grass fire had caught the insulation on fire in the barn. She noticed the gray steel was turning yellow from the intensity of the heat.
The heat was very intense, blowing out windows and the steel buckled and melted in some places.
“I have never seen anything like it,” said Larson. . . .